DIVING: Australian divers Kevin Chavez, Brittany O’Brien and Taneka Kovchenko have all qualified for Saturday’s finals at the 2016 FINA Grand Prix on the Gold Coast.
 
In the one shock result from the opening day of competition, defending 3-metre gold medallist, Bowen Huang of China, failed to qualify for Saturday’s final.
 
Chavez, who made his Olympic debut for Australia in Rio, finished on top of the leaderboard after his 3-metre springboard semi-final.
 
O’Brien, who also made her Olympic debut this year, and Kovchenko both finished third in their 10-metre platform semi-finals to confirm their place in the final.
 
Divers struggled in the windy conditions at the outdoor Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, with China’s Jianfeng Peng posting the highest semi-final score in the men’s 3-metre, 421.75.
 
Chavez finished with a score of 402.15, the fourth highest score overall.
 
China’s Bingqing Xia was the highest scorer in the women’s platform semi-finals, finishing with 319.95.
 
Kovchenko finished with 292.90, and O’Brien 250.10.
 
The preliminary and semi-final rounds of the men’s platform and the women’s 3-metre will be contested on Friday.

Ross Solly
Diving Australia